Ben Arment on First Impressions:

 

First impressions in our churches matter because people visit us when their walls of resistance are at the lowest point they will ever be as a guest. Once we disappoint, a wall goes up, and it becomes substantially more difficult to reach them from that point on. After each unsuccessful attempt, their wall of resistance gets higher and higher. People form opinions about the church very quickly and know within the first few minutes whether they're ever coming back. No pressure, right?